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VERSE INDEX
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THE PRICE OF PROGRESS
An old friend
from another land
Came down to
visit me
And we journeyed
into Brisbane
For he planned
the sights to see.
Around the river
reaches
The skyline came
into view
Passed
underneath the Story Bridge
Where it all
spread out on cue.
This modern day
metropolis
Which now must
rank as great
Has really only
grown so fast
Since Expo
‘Eighty Eight’.
Awed by tall
skyscrapers
And the
cosmopolitan array
Scattered iconic
stone facades
The brief history portray.
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Exploring the
great city
Would take us
many hours
To stroll past
classic structures
Among the
soaring office towers
And ‘twas walking down one city street
That Harry said
to me
‘Just two hundred years ago
How different
this would be’
We strolled
through such diversity
That was the
Queen Street Mall
And came across
King George Square
The site of City
Hall.
While we paused
and looked around
A young woman
stopped me there
To talk for her
Society -
Of the
wilderness in our care.
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I did not have
the patience
To enter into
her debate
But it later on
occurred to me
All her
sentiments did relate
For with every
new development
There comes a
hidden cost
As trees and
bush are cleared away
A part of Nature’s lost.
Spreading roads
and highways
Connect the vast
suburban sprawl
With ever
growing industry
Hungry to
consume it all.
We must maintain
the balance
Or the world may
end bereft
And what would
be our future?
When too little
of it’s left.
Rodd
Sherwin
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